State Briefs: 12/01/07

Friday

Nov 30, 2007 at 12:01 AMNov 30, 2007 at 6:03 AM

Second version

Briefs from around the state of Illinois: From denture stomping to fizzling Coke protest and more.

Woman reportedly breaks ex’s dentures, glasses, sets fire on porch
PEORIA – A spurned girlfriend reportedly stole and crushed her ex-boyfriend's dentures and glasses and set fire to a pile of leaves on his front porch.

James I. Beasley Sr., 60, of 810 W. Bartlett Court told officers Wednesday morning that his former girlfriend, Joyce A. Wright, 45, of 915 S. Helen St. was upset over their recent breakup. So upset, she reportedly ignited leaves piled on his enclosed front porch on Monday evening while he sat inside unaware of the fire. Beasley's son arrived home about 8:30 p.m. and extinguished the flames before they grew out of control.

Beasley also said Wright stole some of his jewelry, false teeth, eyeglasses and 20 of the 50 state quarters he was collecting. When he asked Wright about his dentures and glasses during a phone conversation on Tuesday, according to police reports she replied, "I stomped them."

Police later arrested Wright about 12:15 p.m. Wednesday at the intersection of West Garden Street and South Madison Park Terrace and booked her on charges of criminal damage to property and theft.

Woman pleads not guilty in beating of 15-month-old
PEORIA – A Peoria woman will go to trial in February for allegedly physically assaulting her 15-month-old child so badly that she required multiple operations.

Desiree L. Pendleton, 22, of 721 N. Hightower St. pleaded not guilty in Peoria County Circuit Court on Thursday to aggravated battery to a child and aggravated domestic battery.

Her attorney, Chandra Justice, said the trial was set for Feb. 19 before Circuit Judge James Shadid.

Prosecutors allege the child was brought to a local hospital emergency room in late October and had already been through at least two surgeries to address organ damage. The alleged beating apparently took place while Pendleton was arguing with her boyfriend. Exactly what happened has not yet been disclosed in open court.

At a bond hearing, a prosecutor said Pendleton had told police she was so angry that she couldn't remember what she did.

If convicted of aggravated battery to a child, she faces six to 30 years in prison.

State porn charges dropped
BLOOMINGTON — State pornography charges have been dropped against a former McLean County teacher after being indicted this week on federal charges in Peoria.

Scott Sutherland, 49, was arrested last week in southern Indiana and charged with receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography. He will remain in federal custody until a bond hearing. No date has been set for the hearing.

Sutherland was initially charged in McLean County in September on four counts of possession of child pornography. Those charges have been dismissed due to the federal indictment.

Police say Sutherland’s housekeeper found sheets of paper with pornographic images of minors and reported it to police.

Sutherland had been a full-time fourth-grade teacher at Atlanta Elementary School in 2002 and a substitute in Bloomington District 87, Normal Unit 5, Farmer City’s Blue Ridge School, Ridgeview School in Colfax and Pontiac Elementary. Since his arrest his name has been removed from lists of available substitutes.

Attorney General offers safe-shopping guide for parents

CHICAGO – A “safe” holiday shopping guide is being offered by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office to help parents and grandparents steer clear of the hazardous toys and other children’s products that have been recalled this year.

The 91-page booklet includes information about the nearly 800 items that have been labeled potential hazards, with illustrations of the products. Madigan said Friday the guide may prove useful to consumers to identify harmful toys that are mistakenly still on shelves – or already in their homes.

“As parents, we are all trying to make sure that our children are protected from dangerous products,” Madigan said in a written statement. “This guide is designed to put detailed information about recalled children’s products in a clear, accessible format.”

Millions of units of toys made in China were yanked from American retail stores earlier this year after it was determined the products had problems ranging from lead paint to dangerous pieces.

Consumers can obtain copies of the shopping guides at offices of the attorney general statewide. Or, they can request one – postage paid – by calling 1 (888) 414-7678. The information is available online, too, at www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov .

Former McDonough ESDA chief indicted
PEORIA — The former head of McDonough County’s Emergency Service Disaster Agency was indicted recently by a federal grand jury on charges he took more than $5,000 from the agency.

Stephen R. Miller, 48, of Bushnell, faces one count of taking money from programs that receive federal funds. The indictment was unsealed Thursday after Miller appeared in U.S. District Court and was released on bond pending his Jan. 22 trial before U.S. District Judge Michael Mihm.

The indictment contain little information, saying only the alleged theft was more than $5,000, took place between 2004 and 2005 and involved funds from the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA. However, the amount of money nor where it went or what it was spent on was outlined in the indictment.

Miller left the agency in 2005 after three years in the job, according to Journal Star archives. He was let go by county officials who were not pleased with his job performance. At the time, there was no indication that his termination had anything to do with taking money from the organization.

If convicted, Miller faces up to 10 years in prison
BLOOMINGTON — State pornography charges have been dropped against a former McLean County teacher after being indicted this week on federal charges in Peoria.

Scott Sutherland, 49, was arrested last week in southern Indiana and charged with receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography. He will remain in federal custody until a bond hearing. Not date has been set for the hearing.

Sutherland was initially charged in McLean County in September on four counts of possession of child pornography. Those charges have been dismissed due to the federal indictment.

Police say Sutherland’s housekeeper found sheets of paper with pornographic images of minors and reported it to police.

Sutherland had been a full-time fourth-grade teacher at Atlanta Elementary School in 2002 and a substitute in Bloomington District 87, Normal Unit 5, Farmer City’s Blue Ridge School, Ridgeview School in Colfax and Pontiac Elementary. Since his arrest his name has been removed from lists of available substitutes.

Loretta Lynn to perform in Rockford
ROCKFORD - Classic country icon Loretta Lynn, who logged more than 70 hits singing solo or duet in the 1960s and 70s, is coming to Rockford.

She’ll perform at 8 p.m. Friday, March 14, at the Coronado Performing Arts Center, 314 N. Main St. Ticket prices and the date tickets go on sale have yet to be set.

Lynn’s best-selling 1976 autobiography, “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” was made into a hit Oscar-winning film starring Sissy Spacek and Tommy Lee Jones. Her last Top Ten single was in 1982 with “I Lie,” according to allmusic.com, an industry resource.

“Van Lear Rose,” a 2004 album she made with alternative rocker Jack White of The White Stripes, won two Grammy Awards, including best country album in 2005.

Gas for $2.59 was real, if fleeting
ROCKFORD - It wasn’t a mirage. Gas was indeed going for $2.59 a gallon Thursday afternoon at a westside gas station.

Way Low, an independent Citgo station at 2914 W. State St., sells gas well below market price once every two months, owner Ali Sahori said.

The Citgo station at 4315 Auburn St. owned by Sahori’s partner does the same thing in alternating months.

It’s cheap marketing, Sahori said. He lost about $770 during the three-hour promotion, he said, and gets more buzz than spending more on advertising.

“I like to give that money to the customers,” he said.

They obviously appreciated it, lining up into the street to get the discount, said customer Amanda Wakenight. The marketing tactic keeps her coming back.

“I never know when they’re going to do it, so I come up here anyway,” she said.

Gas elsewhere was going almost 50 cents higher. Today, Sahori’s price is back to $3.06 a gallon for regular unleaded.

Coke protest fizzles; Pepsi remains state contractor

CHICAGO – The state has reaffirmed that Pepsi, not Coke, is the real thing – at least as far as a lucrative government contract goes.

Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Chicago in August protested the selection of PepsiAmericas as the exclusive 10-year supplier of soft drinks to most state buildings – a market of 2,400 vending machines, plus “pouring
services” at events. Coke claimed the state agency handling the contract, the Illinois Department of Revenue, did not respond to its requests for information during the bidding process.

Coke officials acknowledged they never submitted a formal proposal; the deadline
was February.

The Revenue Department stands by its decision to choose Pepsi, according to an Oct. 26 letter the agency sent to Coke.

“Revenue has reviewed Coke’s protest and its clarifications, and has determined that the protest is without merit and is accordingly denied,” it said.

Kevin Morris, vice president of public affairs and communications for the Coke bottler and distributor, suggested the company may not be done with the issue.

“We continue to consider our options,” he said Friday, declining to elaborate.

The state’s tentative deal with Pepsi would guarantee Illinois government and four participating universities a minimum of $14.4 million over the life of the contract. Estimates suggest the entities
could reap tens of millions more through commissions, depending on sales.

The unprecedented Pepsi contract would cover buildings, parks, prisons and other sites under the jurisdiction of Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s administration. The Statehouse in Springfield is not covered because
it is under the secretary of state’s office.

SPRINGFIELD – School Superintendent Walter Milton is questioning a New York state comptroller’s audit criticizing management of the Fallsburg Central School District in upstate New York during the period Milton was superintendent, 2003 to 2005.

The audit, released Wednesday, shows a district that has struggled with several layers of lax oversight, ranging from liberal computer-password policies to confusing and inadequate financial-accounting practices.

Milton, who joined the Springfield district last summer, figures prominently in some of the findings. One states he still owes the Fallsburg district $4,625 of $7,000 in personal expenses he charged on district credit cards, including payments for car washes, video rentals and restaurant meals. Milton, the report said, already has reimbursed the district for the remaining $2,375.

The audit uncovered an additional $28,043 in questionable payments to Milton but says the Fallsburg district was “unable to provide ... the documentation to substantiate” the amount.

The audit also refers to $9,414 in salary overpayments to Milton.

Milton was clear about his take on the audit.

“I don’t owe anyone anything,” he said. “Everything I did was approved by the board.”

Generational switch will add up to $2.8 billion in Springfield area

SPRINGFIELD – About $2.8 billion is expected to change hands in Sangamon County during the 10-year period that ends in 2015.

The figure is from a three-state, county-by-county study commissioned by the Sangamon County Community Foundation — a not-for-profit group that manages 70 charitable funds and endowments worth $6 million — that found Sangamon is one of the wealthiest counties outside Chicago and Metro East St. Louis when it comes to wealth shifting from the World War II generation to the baby boomers.

“It’s naturally of real interest to us,” said John Stremsterfer, executive director of the Springfield-based foundation.

The Kellogg Foundation paid for the bulk of the study of potential wealth transfer in Illinois, Michigan and Ohio through the Center for Rural Entrepreneurship, a national research and policy center in Lincoln, Neb. The group based its estimates on projected wealth transfers between 2005 and 2015.

Among the highlights for Illinois:

• $182.3 billion, or $235,000 per household, can be expected to change hands during the decade.

• 185,000 individuals or families in Illinois have net worth of more than $1 million.

• The bottom 20 percent of families by income have an average net worth of $74,000, while the top 10 percent have an average worth of $2.5 million.

Community foundations in each of the states asked for the study as part of campaign to attract at least 5 percent of that wealth in the form of donations to charitable causes, community development and endowments.

In Sangamon County, that would be an estimated $138.2 million during the decade.

“This is to help the foundations better prepare for this major transfer of wealth,” said Ahmet Binerer, a senior researcher and analyst for the study. Binerer said it took several months this year to compile the data from a variety of federal, state and local sources.

Effort clearing out crime

Patrons of Park-It Market arrived Thursday morning to padlocks and police officers vowing to shut down the Kishwaukee Street business until drug activity there clears.

Owners of the business, at 621 Kishwaukee St., have 10 days to adopt a strategy to keep dealers off the property, City Attorney Jennifer Cacciapaglia said. That could include refusing to sell pocket-sized liquor bottles, tiny roses in tubes and other gas station fare that police say are the ingredients of drug dealing and the violence it spawns.

Park-It Market was the first stop for police officers, city building inspectors and other officials canvassing an area from the Rock River to Kishwaukee Street and from 15th Avenue to Walnut Street. They sought building-code violations, illegal activity and quality-of-life problems as part of a larger drug-enforcement strategy unrolled Wednesday night.

During the daylong sweep:

Three people were arrested for marijuana possession.

Police wrote 60 tickets for parking violations; 14 for speeding; two for driving with a suspended license; one for driving uninsured; and one for an equipment violation.

Inspectors cited 60 residents for building or neighborhood standards violations.

Parole officers visited the homes of four parolees in the area. One was in compliance; three could not be found.

Officials boarded up several vacant buildings and condemned two multifamily units.

Three displaced families were relocated.

The strategy, Sgt. Marc Welsh said, is to quash open-air drug sales, then help residents “rebuild” their community.

Neighbors, some holding signs, gathered despite the blustery weather to watch officials close the market, the site of stabbings, assaults and other crimes. “Drugs were sold from the front, the back, everywhere,” said David Ellison, who lives on South Second Street. “Everyone knew where it was at.”

Hired security could be a fix, officials said.

Two buildings in the mall were also condemned and won’t reopen until city officials deem them safe.

Since the strategy took hold on the city’s east side, eight suspected drug dealers have been jailed. Four others were given the opportunity to seek employment and stay clean. The same strategy was implemented this spring in the west-side Coronado/Haskell neighborhood.